Tester for petroleum



" Sept. 29, 1925. 1,554,993

' C. ETTELE TESTER FOR PETIROLBUI Filed March 13,1924 I WITNESS IINVENTOR Claude life-l0,

I I M ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 29, 1925,.

UNITED s TATES PATENT curl-CE. I

CLAUDE ETTELE; OF MIDDLETOWN, FENNSYLVANIA.

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Application :Jiled March 13, .1924. Serial No, 6993128..

To all whom it may concern;

- Be it known that I, CLAUDE Er'rnnu, a citizen of the United States;and a resident of llliddletown, the county'lof Dauphin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented contain new and useful Improvements inTesters for Petroleum, of which the followis a specification.

This invention relates to a method and rapparartus forrd-etcrinining@the flashing and burning points of petroleum products.

An object of the invention is the provision of a method for determiningthe flashing' points of petroleum products which a minimum of theproduct is employed and in Which the flashing and burning tests are madesimultaneously in a minimum amount A further object oi? the invention isthe provision oi a device for testing the flashing and bunt-ling pointsof petroleum prod nets and in which the products are progressivelyheated with decreasing temperature so that one end of the device will bemaintained at a greater temperature than the remaining portion of thesame, and a Home applied to the product having the greatest temperaturewill ignite the oil and cause it to burn, the oil burning continuouslyon the surface to a point along the device Where the tempenahure is justbelow the burning point of a sample and Where momentary flashes occur. i

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detaileddescripti-on in view of the accompanying drawingforming .a part of the specification; nevertheless it is to beunderstood that the invention isnot confined to the :disclosure, beingsusceptible oif such changes and modifications which :shall define nomaterial departure from the salient ifiGElitUIQS of the invention asexpressed in the appended claims.

In {the drawings:

Figure 1 is a :sidewview of my device for testing oil.

Figune 12is a side-view of a modified form of the oil testing-device.

liciierrin-g more particularly to the drawings, l designatesa solidcylindrical memher which may be of :any sharps provided that the samehas a 'uniifiorm cross section throughout its length. The member 1 isprovided with'a' shallow groove 2 extending longitudinally of themember. The cross sectional area of such a groove is co'nsi-derably lessthan the cross sectional area of the member. The member 1 may ibe formedof any kind of material, such as iron or any other metal which isadapted to radiate heat and thereby heat the petroleum products appliedto the groove 2. r

The inner end of the member 1 is provided with an axial internallythreaded bore 23 adapted to receive the {threads upon a reduccd portionof .a member 4 which is adapted to :be heated. The members 1 and 4 aresupported in a longitudinal position in any approved manner and elevatedsufiiciently above a Bunsen burner 5 which is mounted upon a base member6. the inner end 7 of the groove 2 is a device for creating a sparkwhich may be in the xforni \of a spark plug nor are light, as shown inthe drawings. The are light comprises Located adjacent astand 18 mountedon the base member -16 and havingupstanding arms 9 and 10. The upperifree ends of the arms are provided withsoc-kets 11 which are adapted toreceive the carbon electrodes 12 and 13,. ,An

the electrode 12 whilea Wire 15 leads to the socket carrying theelectrode 13 whereby electric vire ll leads to the socket carrying aresuifioi-ently separated the arc is destroyed or when spaced a properdistance apart a spark is created ior igniting the heated oils in -thegroove 2.

.As is well known a resistance oi? rheostat of any ionm is employed forcontrolling the 2v current passing through the electrodes 12 and 13.

A thermometer 'Oif any" Well known type, such as a mercury, resistanceor thermoelectric thermometer is mounted for slidable movement along thegroove 2 ior detormining, the-temperatures of the oil.

Suitable means is employed for supporting the thermometer which issubjected to the heat of the oil and may comprise a standard 16 having ahorizontal arm 17 upon which is slidably mounted an arm 18. A collar,19,' which receives the horizontal arm 17 of the standard 16 isprovided With a set screw 20 adapted to lock the collar:

of the thermometer is adapted to be positioned adjacent the groove 2where the same will be efi'ected by the heat in order to determine theburning and flashing points of the oil.

the resistance coil 23 may be imbedded withing the plug 4? and may beemployed for heating the member 4 which in turn causes heating of themember 1.

lVhen the sample of the petroleum prodact is placed in the groove andheat is applied to the member 1 either through the Bunsen burner 4 orthrough the resistance coil 23 the oil in the groove will assume thetemperature of the bar along its length and since the heat is radiated"from the member 4 to the bar 1 the hottest portions of the bar 1 willbe adjacent the inner end 7 of the groove 2 and the temperature of thedifferentpoints along the bar toward its outer end will be necessarilydiminished. When sufficient heat is applied to bring the hotter end ofthe groove to the burning point of the oil and the vapors are ignitedthrough the electrodes 12 and 13 a flame will burn continuously on thesurface of the oil from the inner end 7- of the groove down to somepoint along the groove where the temperature is just below the burningpoint of the sample. From here, momentary flashes will occur towards theouter end of the groove to some point where the I temperature is justunder the flashing point of the oil. The arm 18 is moved along the rod17 and subjected tothe heat at these times of burning and flashing andthe temperatures of the oil at these points are then determined.

It will be seen that by my device a very small quantity of the sample isrequired for making the test in a minimum of time. It will also be seenthat the flashing test and burning test are made simultaneously.

Thetesting member 1 shown in igure 2 is identical in construction withthe'memher in Figure 1, the heating plug P showing a variation inform-but nevertheless capable of producing similar results.

A shield is attached "near the part of the thermometer immersed in theoil to keep back the flame while the temperature of the oil is beingmeasured. A number of thermometers should be employed at intervals inthe metal near the groove and the temperatures at any point may bedetermined from the readings of the two thermometers between which thepoint is lcoated. 1

\Vhat I claim is: I 1. The method of testing petroleum products whichcomprises heating one end of an elongated'member ofuniform cross sectionhaving a groove filled with oil, the

cross sectional area of the member being considerably greater than thecross sectional area of the groove, igniting the oil adjacent the heatedend of said member, then taking the temperatures of the oil at pointsalong As shown more particularly in 'Figure'2,-

the groove where the oil is burning and flashing for determining theburning and flashing points of the oil.

2. The method of testing petroleum products which comprises heating withdiminishing temperatures an elongated member of uniform cross sectionhaving a groove 'filled with oil whereby the oil is heated withgradually diminishing temperatures, igniting the oil adjacent the heatedend of said member, then taking the temperature of the oil at pointsalong the "groove where the oil is burning for determining the burningand flashing points of the oil. i

.8. The method of testing petroleum products which comprises heatingwith diminishing temperatures an elongated member of uniform crosssection having a groove tilled with oil whereby the oil is heated withgradually diminishing temperatures, igniting the oil in the groove wherethe greatest temperature'exists, then taking the temperature of the oilat points along the groove where the oil is burning and flashing fordetermining the burning and flashing points of the oil. 4. A; device fortesting petroleum Lproducts comprising a solid elongated member providedwith a longitudinally disposed groove, the crosssectional area of themember being considerably greater than the cross'sectional area of thegroove, said groove extending for a portion of the length of the memberso that a solid grooveless portion'will be had at one end.

5. A device for testing petroleum products comprising a solid elongatedmember provided with a longitudinally disposed groove, the crosssectional area of the member being considerably greater .than the crosssectional area of the groove ,'and means for heating the elongatedmember with constantly diminishing temperatures at points remotefromon'e end of said elongated member.

6. A device for testing petroleum products comprising a solid elongatedmember provided with a longitudinally disposed groove, the crosssectional area of the member being considerably greater than the crosssectional area of the groove, said groove extending for a portion of thea length of the member so that a solid groove- CLAUDE ETTELE.

